Iva Jovic Reveals Novak Djokovic Sent Her Tips Throughout Australian Open Campaign

Iva Jovic produced her career’s best Grand Slam performance in the ongoing Australian Open. She made the quarterfinals, but as expected, she crashed out with a 6-3, 6-0 defeat, because up against her was the formidable Aryna Sabalenka.

En route to the defeat, Jovic eliminated two-time Grand Slam singles semifinalist Jasmine Paolini in the third round and dismantled Yulia Putintseva in the following round. At the press conference after her loss, Jovic, the daughter of a Serbian-born father and a Croatian mother, revealed she received tips from Novak Djokovic throughout her campaign.

He did text me with some more tips throughout the rounds. I don’t even know what day it is anymore. We’ve been in communication, and I feel like we’ve built a little bit of a relationship now, which is amazing, and I wish him all the best for the rest of the tournament. Hopefully, throughout the year, I can keep having more moments with him and encouragement. It’s been amazing.

Prior to the Australian Open, Jovic featured in two tournaments. After her defeat to eventual champion Elina Svitolina in the semifinals of the ASB Classic, Jovic lost to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the final of the Hobart International.

It’s Svitolina whom Sabalenka will be clashing in the semifinals. The Ukrainian knocked out two-time Grand Slam singles champion Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals to progress to her career’s fourth Grand Slam semifinals. Svitolina, in fact, will be playing in her first semifinal at Melbourne Park.

Sabalenka holds a 5-1 head-to-head lead over Svitolina. The lone victory that the 31-year-old registered was in the semifinals of the 2020 Strasbourg Open.

While Svitolina is bidding to win her career’s first Major title, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion is chasing her third title in Melbourne, having won in 2023 by defeating Elena Rybakina and in 2024 against Qinwen Zheng. Sabalenka made the final in 2025 as well, but failed to end it in her favor, losing to Madison Keys.

Jannik Sinner on Lorenzo Musetti’s retirement against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open

Although Iva Jovic crashed out of the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic booked a spot in the last four of the event for the fourth consecutive time after receiving the walkover from an injured Lorenzo Musetti. Djokovic lost the first two sets and was trying to make his comeback in the third set when Musetti deemed it best to throw in the towel.

The Serb will next be locking horns with two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner, who registered an easy victory over Ben Shelton. At the press conference after his win, the 24-year-old was asked about Musetti’s unfortunate injury.

Unfortunate for Lorenzo. In the other way, it’s very difficult to play against Novak, especially best-of-five. It’s still long. I hope it’s nothing too tough for Lorenzo. Starting the season with an injury is not easy. At the same time, it’s gonna be a very tough match the next one. We know each other quite well. It will be interesting to see how we handle the situation.

Sinner leads Djokovic 6-4 in head-to-head matchups, winning their last five meetings, including their three Grand Slam clashes: the 2024 Australian Open semifinals, the 2025 French Open semifinals, and the 2025 Wimbledon semifinals.

If the four-time Grand Slam champion wins, he will become only the second man after Djokovic in the Open Era to emerge victorious three consecutive times in Melbourne. The last time Djokovic lifted a title in the first Major of the season was in 2023 by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas. Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev in 2024, while last year, he breezed past Alexander Zverev.

Also read: Naomi Osaka’s Ex-Coach Blasts Iva Jovic’s Critics Who Cited her Australian Open Comments as Arrogant

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